Typical vehicular body shapes of both modern and past automobiles normally possess wheel-wells for the vehicle's individual wheels to rotate freely within. The wheel-well typically comprises the cavity located behind the vehicle's body panels, within which the wheel is secured and permitted to rotate. The opening which permits access to the wheel-well is typically appropriately termed the wheel-well opening. While the wheel-well opening is a necessary component of the vehicle (for several reasons which will be discussed hereafter) it unfortunately results in an unclean appearance to the overall body lines of the vehicle, and increases the drag coefficient of the vehicle thus decreasing the vehicle's fuel efficiency.
It has heretofore been believed that the body panels adjacent to wheel-well cavities must have wheel-well openings carved thereupon, rather than simply encapsulating the -vehicle wheels within their wheel-wells behind said body panels. One reason for such belief is due to the need for the operator of the vehicle to access and remove the vehicle wheel (in the event of a flat tire, for instance). Another reason stems from the fact that upon the operator of the vehicle initiating a turn, the vehicle's front wheels must pivot and usually protrude outward beyond the boundary of the wheel-well opening. If the wheel-well openings were not present, the vehicle's wheel/tire assembly would contact the vehicle body panel and the vehicle would be unable to execute a turn.
Prior art systems have assembled wheel-well skirts which covered a small portion of the wheel-well openings for aesthetic and aerodynamic purposes, but none have fully covered the entire wheel-well openings for the reasons discussed above. Furthermore, these prior art partial wheel-well skirts were only employable on the rear wheel-wells of the vehicle (to avoid the problem encountered when the front wheels pivot during a turn). In addition, these partial wheel-well skirts also required mechanical removal to access the wheels located therebehind (i.e. in the event the operator needed to change a flat tire). No prior art wheel-well skirts or skirt systems exist which entirely encase the vehicle wheels within the wheel-well to provide a smooth, aerodynamic appearance without obstructing access to the wheels or the hindering the vehicle's ability to execute a turn.
While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose employed, or for general use, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as disclosed hereafter.